1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven and an information appliance like a PDA for transmitting/receiving data. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving data in a microwave oven, in which a PDA with a data transmitting/receiving function downloads data over the network like Internet and transmits the data to the microwave oven where food is cooked based on the transmitted data, and if necessary, the state of the microwave oven is transmitted to the information appliance, i.e. the PDA.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
In general, microwave ovens are cooking appliances, which heat and eventually cook food through microwaves output from a magnetron.
To ensure a precise control over the cooking in the microwave oven, an infrared sensor is usually used. The infrared sensor is installed at one side of a cooking cavity, to trace the food to be cooked by detecting a temperature change on the surface of the food and to transmit the temperature information to a microprocessor inside of the microwave oven. Then, based on the detected surface temperature of the food to be cooked, the microprocessor determines cooking and control conditions.
As shown in FIG. 1, a related art microwave oven includes a turntable 11 on which food to be cooked is mounted; a magnetron 12 for generating electromagnetic waves, the electromagnetic waves being incident on the food inside of a cooking cavity 10 through a waveguide; a cooling fan 13 for cooling the heated magnetron 12; and an infrared sensor 14 for detecting the temperature of the food to be cooked.
The microwave oven with the above-described constitution operates as follows.
When a user inputs a cooking command, a controller (not shown) drives the magnetron 12.
Then the electromagnetic waves generated from the magnetron 12 are irradiated to the cavity 10 through the waveguide, and the food to be cooked is heated.
The infrared sensor 14 outputs different voltage values according to the temperature of the food to be cooked, ad the values are applied to the controller via a series of signal processes.
Therefore, the controller drives the magnetron 12 to heat the food to be cooked until the temperature of the food reaches a target temperature.
Also, the cooling fan 13 cools the heated magnetron 12 while the food is being cooked.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a data transmitting/receiving microwave oven 20 according to a related art.
As shown in FIG. 2, the data transmitting/receiving microwave 20 includes a display 22 for displaying data to be announced to a user; a load drive unit 23 for driving loads of magnetron and heater; a modem 26 for accessing the microwave oven to an outside media 27, a PC 27a or a server 27b for example; a serial communication unit 25 for conducting a serial communication with the modem 26; a data storage unit 24 for storing data received through the serial communication unit 25; and Micom 21 interfaced with the above elements and controlling them.
In short, the modem 26 and the serial communication unit 25 built in the related art data transmitting/receiving microwave oven 20 make possible to access to the PC 27a or the server 27b, thereby transmitting and receiving data.
However, the modem 26 or the serial communication unit 25 built in the related art data transmitting/receiving microwave oven contributed to an increase in price of the microwave oven.
Moreover, data transmitting/receiving between the PC 27a or the server 27b and the modem in the microwave oven was conducted only through the wire system. Further, the PC 27a or the server 27b received data over discrete Internet 28, and conducted data communication with the microwave oven